Bucks bus crash victims file suit

Bucks bus crash victims file suit

Eleven Bucks County residents injured during a bus crash in Boston two years ago filed a civil suit in Massachusetts Monday against the driver and GPS manufacturer, among others, alleging negligence and seeking $15 million in damages.

Among those suing is 18-year-old Matt Cruz, a Neshaminy High School student who was paralyzed after the Calvary Coach bus smashed into an overhang on Soldiers Field Road following a trip to Harvard University with a Bucks County community group in February 2013.

The lawsuit claims that the GPS system used by the driver, Samuel J. Jackson, did not provide proper warnings about height restrictions on the route home. The suit further claims that it is "a well-known fact" that this lack of warning had previously caused "numerous bridge strikes throughout the United States."

A number of height restriction signs were also either blocked from view or not seen by Jackson, the suit claims. James Ronca, an attorney representing Cruz, said, "I view this as a series of events that led to my client being paralyzed. And if anyone one of those had been different, he'd be walking around today." Defendants include Jackson, Calvary Coach, the company's owner, Raymond Talmadge, and the GPS companies TomTom and Garmin. It was not immediately clear which, if any, had secured legal representation in this case. - Chris Palmer